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Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee)
Francisco Scaramanga is the villain in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. In the novel, the character is nicknamed "Pistols" Scaramanga and is also called "Paco" (a Spanish diminutive of Francisco). Scaramanga was played by English actor Christopher Lee, who is also Ian Fleming's cousin. Novel biography Francisco Scaramanga, of Spanish Catalan origin, became a trick shot in a circus act while a youngster, and he also cared for one of the circus elephants. When the elephant went on a rampage and Scaramanga witnessed a policeman kill him, the enraged boy retaliated by killing the police officer with a single shot through the heart. He then made his way to the United States, where he found employment as an enforcer for the Spangled Mob, an outfit that plays a role in two other Bond novels; Diamonds Are Forever, where they were the main foe of agent 007, and Goldfinger as an accomplice to Auric Goldfinger's Operation Grandslam. By the time Bond finally encounters him in The Man with the Golden Gun, Scaramanga is a Caribbean gunman who often works for Fidel Castro's secret police in addition to being engaged in other criminal enterprises such as drug-running into the United States in partnership with the KGB. Bond's service has evaluated him as one of the finest shots in the world, and M authorizes Bond to assassinate Scaramanga—if he can. Bond catches up with Scaramanga in Jamaica, where Bond pretends to be a freelance security officer, and Scaramanga hires him to guard an upcoming meeting of gangsters. During the meeting, a KGB officer blows Bond's cover, subsequently pitting Scaramanga and Bond in a shootout. Bond wounds Scaramanga, but before he can finish the gunman off, Scaramanga shoots Bond with a poisoned bullet from his backup weapon, a golden Derringer. Bond returns fire, killing Scaramanga instantly; soon thereafter, a policeman finds the nearly dead Bond in time to save him. In the novel, British intelligence also has an in-depth psychological profile on Scaramanga, which is printed in the book before the mission begins. The profile (read by M) is unusually disturbing in describing his background and psyche. The profile also claims that Scaramanga is a latent homosexual. Film biography Background Francisco is a high-priced assassin, supposedly the best in the world, charging one million dollars per kill. He's best known for being "The man with the golden gun", after his weapon of choice. All of Scaramanga's dealings go through his henchman Nick Nack, which allows Scaramanga to be anonymous. Francisco Scaramanga was a British national born in a traveling circus. His father was the ringmaster, a former Cuban national and his mother was the snake charmer. By age 10, he was part of the circus as a trick-shot pistol marksman. At age 15, he became an international assassin-for-hire. He was recruited some years later by the KGB in Brazil and trained in Eastern Europe where for many years he was basically just another overworked and underpaid assassin for the KGB. He quit the KGB in the late 1950s, becoming an independent hitman-for hire. No photographs of him exist, but he has unusual anatomy: a third nipple. This information later comes in handy to Bond, who uses Scaramanga's anonymity and only known physical feature to get into contact with Scaramanga's current employer, Hai-Fat. Later in the film, Scaramanga reveals to Bond that as a boy living in the traveling circus, he shot and killed an abusive animal trainer after the man killed an elephant that had befriended Scaramanga. Scaramanga also demonstrates his marksmanship to Bond by using a revolver to shoot the cork off a bottle of champagne from long range. Scaramanga lives very well, drawing from the exorbitant sums of money he charges to carry out his assassinations ("Current price, one million dollars", according to Bond's briefing), and has built his home on his own personal island somewhere off the coast of south-eastern China. Scaramanga apparently lives alone on his private island, accompanied only by Nick Nack, Andrea Anders (his kept woman), and a mechanic named Kra who is in charge of maintenance and security. Despite his insistence that "science was never my strong point," the island utilizes many aspects of modern technology, including its own self-sufficient solar power plant. In addition to the power plant, Scaramanga's home also includes a section which is a somewhere between a labrynthine maze and a funhouse, where Scaramanga and his foes duel to the death. Nick Nack has a habit of hiring these other assassins to kill Scaramanga as a sort of challenge, or perhaps to just keep him on his toes. In addition, Scaramanga also has a private junk, which Bond later steals to get off the exploding island. Scaramanga also uses some of his wealth to finance research and development of technologies that rival those developed by MI6's Q Branch. Such technologies include a car that transforms into an aircraft and a solar-powered laser cannon. The Solex Agitator Scaramanga was hired by Hai-Fat to assassinate a British scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of solar energy information and technology crucial to solving the energy crisis. Gibson is assassinated and his invention, the solex agitator, is stolen from the crime scene by Nick Nack. The solex agitator is a critical component of Gibson's solar energy device. However, instead of turning the device over to Hai-Fat, Scaramanga instead kills Hai-Fat and takes the device for himself. With it in his possession, it allows for him to sell the device to the highest criminal bidder or use it to power his personal solar energy cannon. Scaramanga also desires to test his skills against the famed James Bond, whom he regards as the only man capable of being his equal. Besides the profit and/or power the solex agitator can give him, Scaramanga's scheme in acquiring the device is also intended to lure Bond to Scaramanga's private island so that the two of them can engage in one final, decisive duel. After taking Mary Goodnight (Bond's semi-partner in the film) hostage, Scaramanga lures Bond to his private island. Scaramanga seems excited about Bond's visit and gives him a tour of his solar powerplant, elaborating on his plans for the solex. Following the tour, Bond dines with Goodnight and Scaramanga. As they eat, the assassin states that despite his 'working for peanuts', Bond and he are very much alike. Death Bond presses his luck which provokes him and Scaramanga into a duel. Once in the funhouse, Bond plays a dummy and tricks Scaramanga and shoots him directly in the heart. One of Scaramanga's most famous scenes is when he and Bond are eating together when Scaramanga suddenly has his golden gun on Bond. Video-game appearances Scaramanga is a playable character in the multiplayer portion of Nightfire. In 2004, Scaramanga was brought back to life again the third time for the game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. In the game, Scaramanga is an ally of Auric Goldfinger. Unlike the film's version wherein "science was never his strong suit", Scaramanga is more of a techno genius as he is the manufacturer for the synthetic eye given to GoldenEye and makes a virus that later is used against Auric Goldfinger's O.M.E.N. device. Once again, Scaramanga was voiced by Christopher Lee. Henchmen Nick Nack Profile.png|Nick Nack|link=Nick Nack Andrea Anders Profile.png|Andrea Anders|link=Andrea Anders Kra - Profile.jpg|Kra|link=Kra Behind the scenes Ian Fleming named Francisco Scaramanga after a fellow student at Eton with whom he shared a lasting rivalry. Following several schoolground spats Fleming decided to use the animosity he felt towards George Scaramanga for the influence behind one of his most famous villains. Fleming and Scaramanga were at Eton in the 1930s until the Bond author was expelled. The Golden Gun In Ian Fleming's novel, the golden gun is a gold-plated .45-calibre revolver; however, for the film, it was a single-shot weapon that fires a custom-made 4.2-millimeter golden (23-carat gold with traces of nickel) dum-dum bullet. Scaramanga used the golden gun in numerous assassinations of officials, political enemies, gangsters, and a 00-agent, Bill Fairbanks (002). Scaramanga later used the golden gun to kill British scientist Gibson and Scaramanga's own employer, Hai-Fat. But, when Scaramanga was killed, and his island is destroyed, the golden gun was presumably also lost. Images TMWTGG - Bond and Scaramanga meet.jpg|Bond and Scaramanga meet for the first time. Trivia *Scaramanga was mentioned in the British parody comedy Dead Ringers on a sketch parodying Die Another Day in which a stereotypical Bond villain is advertising a supervillain's torture machine called The Dr Diabolical's Super-Hero Slice-A-Matic deluxe 4000. Of it, Scaramanga said "I couldn't believe how much time it saved me." *Scaramanga was listed in the Top 11 Classy Assassins list on UGO. Category:Characters killed by James Bond Category:Deceased characters Category:The Man With The Golden Gun characters Category:James Bond characters Category:Assassins Francisco Scaramanga Category:Main villains